Zimbabwe schools send warning to parents after lions spotted on the prowl

Schools in Zimbabwe's city of Bulawayo had to send warnings to parents this week after three lions were reportedly spotted there.

Police are investigating the report and have urged parents to accompany their children to and from school for the time being, the official Chronicle reported on Saturday.

Deputy head of Zulukandaba Primary School near Entumbane said: "We didn't see the lions but we heard about them from residents. As a school we had to warn our pupils not to move close to the bush where the lions were seen."

A local mother told the paper that residents "feared being killed by the lions." The first sighting was by a worker at the national rail company who was on night shift on Wednesday.

National parks official Givemore Mukuya told the Chronicle: "We did not see any signs of the lions yesterday not even a spoor. Our teams are still investigating."

Lions, like other dangerous game, roam freely in wildlife areas like the Hwange National Park, which is on the road between Bulawayo and Zimbabwe's top tourist resort of Victoria Falls.

But they rarely venture into cities and towns - and when they do, they spark panic. In 2013, lions killed two people in a bushy area of Kariba town in northern Zimbabwe.

Last month a herd of buffalo had to be driven out of the centre of Victoria Falls town after they were chased there by lions.